From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
The trick took its toll. Seren beamed at Weaver when the woman expressed her admiration for it, but the girl looked rather tired, and plopped down onto the ground by the base of the rock like she had been running forever rather than just skip off a boulder. With dazed awe, she watched fire spring up from Weaver's palm, and her lips made a quiet 'o'.
"Your trick is very good too," she offered, as generous with the glory as with her possessions. Perhaps it wasn't characteristic of small children to be such, but it was in her nature. "I can make things very heavy too, but it is not as fun." The feeling of that was rather like a tummy ache, which Seren was not a big fan of.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
The girl plops onto the ground, and Weaver slides off the rock to join the girl. Removing her scythe, she props it against the rock, and then lays down. The sky is blue above them, dotted with some various clouds. It feels like a luxury to lay on the ground and watch the clouds float by. It is rare to see blue sky in Halo, and you don’t exactly spend time laying in the snow.
”No, that doesn’t seem as fun,” she says, agreeing that making things heavier would be less appealing. ”I am not sure if it will work, but I may be able to help your fatigue, if you’ll let me?” she asks, curious if the healing magic could restore a little bit of energy. She hasn’t really figured out what that particular trick can do, and she’s not very good with it yet, but still, even some basic healing was useful.
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
Magic was fun, and she was not adverse to seeing more tricks. So Seren nodded, when Weaver offered to try something, and waited quietly to see what it might be.
Meanwhile, her gaze searched the sky for clouds. It was still fairly early in the day, and a few puffy ones dotted the blue expanse, not yet burned away by the sun.
"That cloud looks like a dragon," she said, pointing towards it.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
Weaver focuses, trying to find the source of the fatigue. It’s easy to find a bruise or a cut, to knit the skin back together for those surface wounds. She can sense them quickly, but there’s something much more concrete to sense. This is different, and eventually, she grasps onto something that simply feels like a lack, which she cannot quite put into words. Sending a pulse of healing, as if to fill the space, she wonders if it will help. ”Do you feel anything?” she asks. ”I can heal small cuts, but I’ve never tried to see if I can help with something like fatigue. I am not sure if it’s possible.”
Weaver chuckles slightly at the cloud dragon. ”It does look like a dragon. We have dragons in Halo, you know,” she says, eyes twinkling slightly. ”They are far more dangerous than the clouds though. They usually keep to themselves in The Fangs, so long as we leave them alone. I hear The Draig Cordillera is so full of them though humans cannot set foot there. Rumor has it Caido himself lives there, though that is only a rumor.”
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
04-03-2020, 10:02 PM (This post was last modified: 04-03-2020, 11:06 PM by Seren.)
Seren
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
The magic made the girl giggle and squirm on the ground. "It tickles!" she tittered, clutching herself as if that might make the feeling subside. When it finally did, the girl was brimming with energy just like before, and her eyes glittered as she grinned at Weaver. "It is like when Loren came here and I scraped me knee and he healed me!" she said, on hearing the explanation. "I am not bleeding now."
Though she did look over herself, to make sure. Nope, neither bleedy nor tired.
The story about the dragons left her wide eyed, the vivid blue gaze focused with bright intent on the woman. "I love dragons! Daddy has a white, her name is Sugar! I want one too, only blue, like Sunjata's bird." All things blue were pretty, but his shade was the best. So deeply navy it was almost purple.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
Weaver chuckles. No one had ever told her it tickles, but then again, she’s never tried to heal a child. Children were far more honest than anyone else. Seren seems to perk up, and Weaver smiles slightly, not sure how well it worked, but thinking that at least it helped a little. ”Loren is a much better healer than I am,” she says, recalling his infirmary. Weaver had only recently even learned she had the power at all.
”The dragons in Halo are not like your daddy’s dragon. I am sure Sugar is wonderful. The dragons in Halo are much, much bigger, and not nearly so kind to humans.” Not all dragons were cute little companions, after all. ”Though I think a blue dragon companion would suit you very well. He or she would match your eyes.”
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
Seren wasn't so sure about that. Rememebering the man made her expression fall, and something troubled came over her eyebrows, the sensitive mouth not so happy anymore. "Loren says he does not get along with daddy. That he hurt daddy, and Remi, and that we can not be friends. I want to though, he was nice." Even though he'd said he wasn't nice.. It was very complicated.
And it stayed that way when Weaver expanded on the dragon aspect. "How big?" she asked, a little wide eyed. Having trouble picturing anything but Sugar's tiny form.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
”That does sound like Loren,” she muses. He was rather self-deprecating, in that way, though she doesn’t doubt there’s truth there. She doesn’t know the story, but she cannot imagine he was lying to Seren. ”Though it is possible to be a healer and still hurt people. It is possible to be both unkind and kind. We are never just one thing. You will figure that out, as you grow up. It is very annoying, but life is rarely so simple as black and white.”
The girl’s previously happy mouth is not so happy now. Weaver finds she hates it, to see the concerned and uncertain downward curve of her pretty lips. Yet she will not keep the truth from the girl, as that would be too much a disservice in the name of fleeting happiness. ”Some no larger than Sugar, but some nearly as large as the ships in the harbor.” Not that she has ever actually seen a dragon, except once from a distance, but she doesn’t doubt that they are nearly as large as other hunters have told her. They might exaggerate some, but never so much as to be untruthful.
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
Perhaps the speech went a little bit above the head of the girl. "Can I still be friends with Loren, even if daddy is not?" she asked, keeping to the core of her concerns. "I don't want to hurt daddy, but I do want a friend." She didn't have that many, truth be told. And it seemed awfully important to have as many as possible.
The comparison to the big ship was one she could understand, and it made her eyes widen again, in awe and perhaps a touch more respect than before. Yet, after considering it, the girl acquired a stubborn set to her chin. "I like dragons anyway, even if they are big," she told Weaver, with fierce determination. "If my dragon friend grows that big, then I will still be friends with it." Though she had not yet worked out how to fit it into her bed... Might have to work on that.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
Weaver smiles softly. ”You can. The choice is yours, and your Daddy will love you regardless, but he may not like your choice. My brother does not really like my choice of friends either, though he is still my brother. He still loves me, even if sometimes he doesn’t seem to like me very much.” She wasn’t totally sure if that would make sense, but she wasn’t sure how else to describe it. If Seren had more questions, she’d try to come up with another way of explaining.
Weaver chuckles at the child’s stubbornness. Sounded a whole lot like Weaver had sounded when she was a child. Hell, sounded a whole lot like Weaver still sounded sometimes. ”Dragons are not necessarily bad, but they do deserve our respect. Sometimes adults forget that.” She cannot help but think of the failed quest to retrieve a dragon’s heart, and the damage that had been wrought in the wake of a bad decision. To think a dragon would consent to return with a bunch of humans...Weaver nearly shakes her heart at the thought, but stops herself, not wanting to have to explain that one to Seren.
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
Ah, but therein lay the problem, didn't it. If Father didn't like it, then Seren didn't want to do it. Except she did. So... where did that leave her? Too young to make that kind of decision, most likely. She sighed, a tragic little outburst of breath that spoke volumes of her conundrum. "I wish everyone got along," she said earnestly. "Then we could all be friends and no one would be sad. So many are sad now." And there didn't seem to be anything she could do about it.
Turning her gaze back up to the sky, Seren looked for another cloud, but couldn't find one that looked much like anything. "What is reps-respect?" she asked, struggling a bit with the word. "Uncle Saiden said I should respect the ocean, but I do not know how."
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
”It would be much better if everyone got along,” she agrees, knowing full well she didn’t get along with everyone. Though to Weaver’s small credit, she did try. She was pretty open minded and gave a whole lot of chances, but sometimes it just wasn’t meant to be. Sometimes you clashed too hard against the tide of someone else’s shores for there to be a bond. Besides, they would still be sad. There would still be death, pain, anger, hurt. There was no way to avoid it in the end, but she’s not about to tell Seren that. Certain things are better left to discovery, and she cannot bring herself to ruin all of Seren’s innocence.
The sky has turned largely blue and cloudless above them, and Weaver turns her head toward the girl at her question. ”It can mean a few things, depending on the context. Respect is to admire something or someone. You respect your elders, like your daddy or your momma. The way Saiden or I mean it is to have a healthy fear of something. Dragons and the ocean both are powerful, beautiful things. They deserve our admiration. But they are also dangerous things, and we must be aware of that, and careful. That does not mean you cannot enjoy the ocean or go for a swim, but you should be careful as you do so. Does that make sense?”
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
The girl clearly pondered the difficult concept with a serious expression, clearly trying her best to understand it. It sounded a bit like what Remi said about being careful not to fall on the rocks, and made more sense than Saiden's explanation about the ocean. In the end, she nodded... not entirely confident, but getting there.
"You are nice," she said, reaching out a small hand to pat Weaver softly on the cheek. "Do you want to be friends with me?" A quiet hope was woven into the shy question. They felt like friends, but Seren wanted to make sure.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
In time, all the things adults said would make sense. Or at least, they would make more sense. Life was not all that easy to understand, though, no matter how long you lived it.
Weaver lets her gaze wander to the sky again, watching the nearly cloudless sky above. There is a breeze from the water, and it’s perhaps a bit chilly, though Weaver cannot tell. Then Seren’s little hand comes to pat Weaver’s cheek as the girl tells her that she is nice, and something about the gesture breaks her heart just slightly. The good kind of breaking, the kind that lets you know your heart hasn’t turned to ice. ”I would like to be your friend very much,” she tells Seren, sincerity in her voice.
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
